Hideki Matsuyama became the first golfer from Japan to wear the prestigious green jacket as he won the 2021 Masters on Monday (April 12).
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Hideki Matsuyama became the first golfer from Japan to wear the prestigious green jacket as he won the 2021 Masters on Monday (April 12). Matsuyama’s 10 under par was enough for him to win the first major of 2021 by one from Will Zalatoris. Jordan Spieth closed in a share of third with Xander Schauffele at minus seven. He is the second man from an Asian country to win a major. The first was Y.E. Yang of South Korea, who won the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine by notably beating out Tiger Woods. Hideki Matsuyama won in Japan as an amateur, and four times after he graduated college and turned pro in 2013.
Hideki Matsuyama – 2021 Masters champion. #themasters
松山英樹-2021年マスターズチャンピオン pic.twitter.com/P3JDVW5RMt
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2021
His first PGA Tour victory took place at the Memorial in 2014 and prompted tournament host Jack Nicklaus to make an interesting prediction.
“I think you’ve just seen the start of what’s going to be truly one of your world’s great players over the next 10 to 15 years.” How right he was.
This was Matsuyama’s 15th worldwide title and it was his sixth PGA Tour title. He had gone 93 tournaments without winning, the longest drought for a Masters champion since 1987.
“I felt really good going to the first tee, until I stood on the first tee, and then it hit me that I’m in the last group of the Masters Tournament and I’m the leader by four strokes. And then I was really nervous,” Matsuyama said afterwards.
“But I caught myself. And the plan today was just go out and do my best for 18 holes. And so that was my thought throughout day, just keep doing my best.”
The win pushed him to No. 14 in the golf world rankings.
